Capitals' Alex Ovechkin stuns Bruins early with goal No. 891 amid Wayne Gretzky chase

Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin is back at it again. He did not waste much time Tuesday night against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Beantown to find the back of the net, as the 39-year-old forward scored on the man advantage in the first period to give the Caps a 2-0 lead.

Ovechkin lit the lamp off of a nice pass from center Dylan Strome, who found the Russian superstar wide open for an easy goal past Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman. Washington defenseman John Carlson was also credited with an assist in that play.

Alex Ovechkin entered the Bruins game coming off a three-point performance (1 goal, 2 assists), albeit in an 8-5 home loss at the hands of the Buffalo Sabres last Sunday. With that first-period goal versus Boston, “The Great Eight” is now just three goals away from tying Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL record of 894 goals and four more from setting a new league record.

There is a good chance that Ovechkin will tie and break “The Great One's” record before the end of the 2024-25 NHL regular season. The Capitals still have eight games left to play. That's not to mention that Alex Ovechkin still has a chance to score at least a goal more this Tuesday evening as the Caps and the Bruins are still playing at the time of this writing. He started the way with 37 goals and 26 assists for 63 points this season.

In any case, it appears that Ovechkin is a virtual lock to break Gretzky's record. If he ends up failing to score enough goals down the stretch, he should be able to get them in the 2025-26 NHL campaign when he'll be 40 years old.

As for the Capitals, they are hoping that they get to finally snap out of their slump with a win against the Bruins. They arrived in Boston on a three-game losing skid, though, they have already secured a berth in the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs with 103 points through their first 73 games this season.

After dealing with the Bruins, Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals will head to North Carolina to face the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday.